Arcadia

A compelling folk horror/archive film with a score by members of Portishead and Goldfrapp.

UK 2017
Dir Paul Wright
79min
Digital
Certificate 12A
A BFI release

Scouring 100 years of archive footage, much of it drawn from the BFI National Archive, BAFTA®-winner Paul Wright constructed an exhilarating study of the British people’s shifting – and contradictory – relationship to the land. The film takes us on a sensory, visceral journey through the contrasting seasons, observing folk carnivals and fetes, masked parades, water divining and harvesting. Set to a grand, expressive new score from Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp), alongside folk music from the likes of Anne Briggs, Wright’s captivating film essay captures the beauty and brutality, and the magic and madness of rural Britain.